Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

The day after the auction was a frantic one, as the news of the Fertility Potions had spread the rumours of the Farm Blessing, as the locals called the Garden Charms, all over town. Now, they were no longer considered a rumour, but a proven fact, and as such, there were dozens of Nobles seeking audience with Wolfe at the Countess Dewinter's estate.

The morning wasn't as crazy as the garden party, as it was only those who thought that they might be able to spare something valuable enough to trade for one or the other, but there was still a rather impressive group of Nobles gathered, waiting on breakfast.

Yes, they had shown up before they even ate their morning meal, so eager were they to get to the Countess' house to meet with Wolfe.

"It's a good thing that the Ladies did upgrade the charm on the property. If not, we might have to beg the Baron Southland to open his warehouse early so we might restock." The butler was muttering as he brought in another basket full of eggs.

Though the coop in the back of the property was small, intended for the Noble's own breakfast, it too had been improved by the Garden Charm, and the feed was causing the chickens to lay eggs multiple times a day, much to the dismay of the staff, who had to find them.

Normally, as the number of eggs approached the number of chickens, you were nearly done, but these days, you just kept finding more.

Between those and the baby potatoes, which were becoming a big hit as they could be constantly cultivated, they had half of breakfast picked before dawn, and the rest was all fixings that would take a bit to bake.

But that delay gave a few of the ranking Nobles a chance to get to speak with Wolfe and the Witches while they waited for pancakes, pies and breakfast biscuits to be prepared.

The farm had already dropped off their milk and cream order for the morning, so they were good on most fronts, and the mood in the kitchens was optimistic as the morning breakfast service approached.

"Saint Noxus, would it be possible to obtain a protective ward similar to the one that you put on these properties, the ones that keep out those with ill intentions? Such a spell would be incredibly valuable to a fellow such as myself." One of the merchants asked.

He traded in high ranking magical items, owned a number of apothecary and artificer shops in ten different towns, but grew up here and preferred to spend his time at the estate in town if he wasn't needed elsewhere.

To say that there was a vast fortune in his properties would most likely be an understatement. But more importantly, that was a situation that the Kind Intentions spell could directly improve.

Wolfe nodded in agreement. "It would, if I knew the dimensions of the area to be protected. I could make a generic dome, say fifty metres radius around the focal point, and that would be less time-consuming, though the actual device would be the same."

"That would be wonderful. I have brought along a few rare and interesting pieces that you might be interested in, if you would like to make an exchange after the meal."

The merchant was officially an Earl, thanks to his Rank Five magical power and his military accomplishments in his earlier years. His hair was showing signs of grey now, and his former strength was becoming stringy, in the way of athletic middle-aged men, but his power was still on par with Cassie and Ella.

Wolfe smiled back. "Oh, I think that we can come up with something. The magics that most of the others are interested in are the specialties of the Ladies, but that one in particular is one that I am quite accomplished in."

"Is the spell really that impressive? Once they are inside, their intentions might well change." One of the noblewomen asked, looking unconvinced.

Wolfe considered that for a moment. "Does anyone here know a spell for mind control? Or perhaps have a deep enmity with one of the others?"

The group looked around at each other, and a few of them chuckled.

"You could say that is true. Many of our families bear grudges going back generations, but for the sake of business and civility, we don't make a fuss about them in public." One of the younger Nobles agreed.

"Wonderful. Now, if you do have such a grudge, I would like you to attack them right now. Fear not, I will protect you from legal repercussions. Besides, it's not like they don't already know."

There was a short pause as everyone tried to make sense of what he said. He would cover for them killing their enemies here in public? A Saint could do that, they had the influence, but that was a bit much, and most Nobles preferred not to get their hands dirty.

Then Wolfe noticed that one of the women was casting a spell, and one of the servants standing by the wall moved forward with a pitcher of wine to fill her neighbour's full cup.

There was the hilt of a poisoned dagger in the maid's other hand, but as soon as she tried to remove it from its sheathe, she froze.

"What the fuck, Marcy?" The girl beside her, apparently her sister, going by appearance, shouted.

"Oh, come on. You know I've wanted to for years, don't pretend like you haven't tried the same. It's your servant with the poisoned dagger." The dark-haired spell caster laughed.

"You can release the spell and let the servant return to her spot now." Wolfe reminded her.

poisoned dagger." The dark-haired spell caster laughed.

"You can release the spell and let the servant return to her spot "As you can see, even under mind control, it is physically impossible for them to take aggressive action to severely injure or kill another." Wolfe offered.

Then a resounding slap echoed through the room as the target of the show slapped her sister across the face.

"It does not, however, stop actions which are not intended to inflict real injuries. It doesn't protect your dignity, just life and limb. Though it does discourage those with the intent to shame or disgrace you from taking those actions, it won't outright block them, so if you feel they are justified enough, they are possible."

"So, petty and vindictive are out, but legitimate and deeply held grievances could still lead to a fistfight?" One of the men asked.

"Exactly. It will also make it nearly impossible for your staff to bully each other, or be bullied by your children. We learned that quite early. The more justified the action, the lower the resistance from the spell, as long as it doesn't harm anyone. Even practical jokes that might lead to injuries become impossible, so no greasing banisters and removing staples from the carpet runners on stairs." Wolfe added.

The younger Nobles looked at Wolfe in shock.

"That's just... evil. You could get nearly anyone killed with that trick." One of them commented.

Wolfe nodded. "And more likely a child or servant because most adults where I'm from wear armour spells as decoration or clothing."